The present invention relates to automated apparatus for the mass sorting of individual cartridges of undeveloped film into various groups according to the particular film processing required.
Mail order film processing firms receive daily thousands of cartridges of exposed film sent in for developing. This film must not only be sorted into their various types so that they go through the appropriate developing process, but also must be suitably identified or correlated with the sender so that the developed film is correctly returned. Originally these sorting and correlating functions were performed on a manual basis. Recently, film manufacturers have taken to providing a notch code on the cartridge identifying the type of film therein and the particular processing required to properly develop it. This notch code is then sensed pursuant to controlling automated sorting apparatus. An example of one such sorting apparatus is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,811.
The problem still remains to correlate each sorted film cartridge with the identity of the person mailing it in for developing. Heretofore, this has been done on an essentially manual basis. One method of providing this correlation function has been to manually apply identical uniquely numbered labels to the film cartridge and a mailing envelope or mailer in which the developed film will be returned to the sender. An address strip filled out by the sender and sent in with the film cartridge is inserted in the mailer. Thus the mailer is correlated with the sender by the enclosed address strip, and the film is correlated with the mailer by the two identically numbered labels. When the developed film returns, its label number, which was photographed on the film strip prior to processing, provides the basis for locating the appropriate mailer pursuant to transmittal of the developed film back to the correct sender.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide automated apparatus for not only sorting film cartridges for processing, but also for correlating each film cartridge with a particular mailing envelope or mailer containing an identification of the person to receive the developed film.
A further object is to provide automated apparatus of the above character wherein sorting of the film cartridges is achieved in a rapid and efficient manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide automated apparatus of the above character which handles each film cartridge and its correlated mailer in positional association.
Yet another object is to provide automated apparatus of the above character wherein correlating labels are automatically applied to each cartridge and its correlated mailer prior to sorting.
An additional object is to provide automated apparatus of the above character wherein the correlated cartridges and mailers are sorted concurrently.
A further object is to provide automated apparatus of the above character which is efficient and reliable in operation and compact in size.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.